Thread: DIY Bench Top Jointer

Another project finished while I rehab from a injury at work. The old saying applies here, "No gain without pain", and I still have plenty of that.

Some time ago I sold my full sized 6" jointer. It took up too much room and wasn't used all that much.
Lately I've had need to plane a few small pieces, and some larger items. Mostly for doing glue-ups for turning projects but I do also have some furniture projects in mind as well.

I looked at various 6' benchtop jointers from several companies but didnt like what I was seeing. Poor build quality and expensive were the main issues. After scouting around on the internet for ideas, and incorporating several from the net I came up with my own benchtop jointer based on the Ozito Power Plane from my local Bunnings. Total investment for this project was $100NZD.

As you can see in the video, its a fixed height on the in feed and out feed tables. Total depth of cut it 1 mm. More than enough for most of what I do. Any further sizing is then done on the tablesaw or thicknesser. At 82 mm width it provides a pretty useful footprint for most projects.

The main body and parts are made from 15 mm Triboard with a little ply for the end braces and a Kwila piece for the adjustable fence support. All topped off with some polyurethane finish for a weather seal. It works very nicely and the 750 watt motor doesn't bog down. I could have gone with a less powerful machine but for a few extra dollars the bigger power plant is well worth the extra money.




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